


Germination

by PhenixFleur



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Amedot if you squint really hard but not intentional, F/F, Fluff, Friendship, Gardening, Gen, Lapis Lazuli (mentioned) - Freeform, Light Angst, Post-Episode: s05e10 Kevin Party, Recovery, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:15:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhenixFleur/pseuds/PhenixFleur
Summary: Amethyst and Peridot finally get around to planting hydrangeas while Peridot reflects on life after Lapis.





	Germination

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written in a good long while, so I apologize for being rusty. I've also never written Peridot before and am less familiar with writing for Steven Universe in general, so hopefully no one is *too* out of character. Thanks for giving it a chance! : )

Following the disastrous attempt at reviving the Prime Kindergarten, the Sprout Squad (both Peridot and Amethyst had strong feelings regarding the name, but Steven was too proud of his efforts for the two Gems to protest too much) had made the unanimous decision to relocate to somewhere a little closer, a little more green. Pearl had suggested that perhaps the eradication of the corrupted Gem lurking beneath the surface at the site would yield different results, but Peridot couldn’t face the possibility of  _more_ disappointment, not when she’d just progressed to spending a few more hours a day outside of her pillow fort in Steven’s bathroom. Instead they set their sights on the lightly shaded area just beneath the beach house. It looked perfect for hydrangeas.

“According to this database of general human knowledge,” Peridot peered at the online encyclopedia she’d insisted upon consulting, scrolling along with an index finger, “The Bigleaf hydrangea, genus  _Hydrangea_ , species  _macrophylla_ ,  is a relatively hardy flowering shrub best planted in either spring or fall in partial shade. Colors can range from white to pink, blue, or purple depending on the acidity of the soil.” She glanced up at Amethyst. “I guess we need to decide on which color we’re going for.”

“Purple, duh!” Amethyst scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “The best color, obviously.”

Peridot couldn’t resist the faint smile that graced her lips. “That is a subjective statement; I  _personally_ prefer blue.” To her chagrin her voice faltered at the word, as it always did these days; she could tell that Amethyst had noticed as well, tensing slightly. She hurried to brush the slip-up off, faking a laugh and shrugging as if it were nothing. “But purple is more than acceptable! I’m a big fan of purple! It’s…purple is fine.”

She knew from experience that her blustering was not convincing, but Amethyst thankfully refrained from mentioning it, pumping her fist with much more enthusiasm than Peridot felt. “That’s the spirit!”

Close to a month had passed since Lapis’ untimely departure, along with nearly all of their stuff (collective and otherwise), and to Peridot the loss felt just as acute as if it were the day following their last one together. Immediately afterwards she’d entertained the idea that it was a joke, an offbeat attempt at humor on Lapis’ part regardless of it being extremely out of character for her, and had insisted upon remaining at the crater that remained of their former home for several hours until Steven finally convinced her they could come back the next day to see if Lapis had returned.

She hadn’t.

Not the second day, nor the fourth, nor the fourteenth, upon which the days had begun to blur into a lump of time that was essentially meaningless. Were it not for Steven and Amethyst’s attempts to draw her out of the shell she’d retreated into, Peridot was pretty sure she’d still be spending her days burrowed into the mass of pillows in the bathtub while the melancholy tune she’d settled upon as mood music played on repeat.

Even now that she’d begun to venture out of the bathroom on her own initiative the loss was still raw, whether the activity for the day consisted of joining Steven in front of his TV to mindlessly stare at the screen (mentally comparing everything he tried to introduce her to to Camp Pining Hearts) or watching Amethyst root around in the kitchen. Worse were all of the little things that served as a reminder that she might never see her roommate (and closest friend) again - water dripping into the sink, the particular shade of blue the sky took on midday when there were no clouds to obscure it. They painted the vivid image of Lapis Lazuli, perched atop the roof with the breeze ruffling the hem of her dress, staring up at the sky as if she expected to fall into it.

Peridot forcibly turned her attention back to the task at hand - several pots of young hydrangeas to be relocated to the patch of green beneath the porch and behind the stairs where they would hopefully be out of harm’s reach. Of the Sprout Squad only two members were present; she wasn’t sure where Steven was but it very likely had something to do with his recent reconciliation with Connie. “Should we wait for Steven?”

Amethyst grinned. “He’s probably occupied at the moment.”

“I suppose he can assist with maintenance.” While the encyclopedia reference for their new project provided a lot of general information, it was necessary to look to another source for specifics; Peridot was deeply immersed in a fairly detailed gardening guide when she noticed that Amethyst had shifted into a small, lavender-furred creature with a long snout, gleefully burrowing into the ground with no regards for the recommended depth or width. “What are you doing??”

Mole-Amethyst paused, snout twitching inquisitively. “Um, planting hydrangeas? We kinda have to dig the holes first.”

Peridot leapt to her feet, holding her tablet aloft in a state of mild consternation. “There’s a protocol we have to follow! You can’t just dig a hole and toss them in!” Amethyst opened her mouth to interject, but the smaller Gem continued her tirade, waving her arms emphatically. “It says here that we need to dig a hole  _as_ deep as the root cluster and two to three times as wide!”

Even in mole form she could tell Amethyst was rolling her eyes, following the gesture up with a shrug. “I’ll just make the holes bigger. Chill out Peri, I’ve got this part.”

Hearing her nickname (or at least one of them; by now Amethyst had several in rotation) didn’t exactly alleviate her concern, but it did serve to remind Peridot that she didn’t want to run one of her two remaining close friends off with her admittedly obsessive attention to detail. She took a deep breath, backing away while gripping her tablet tightly. ‘You’re right, it’s probably best to let you handle this while I work on gauging the pH level of the soil to make sure we get the right color.“

Amethyst nodded in a way that Peridot had come to understand as acknowledgment without wanting further explanation of her technical jargon. "Let’s get these babies in the ground!”

They worked in comfortable silence, Amethyst working at making at least somewhat accurately-sized holes while Peridot fiddled with the test kit she’d had recommended for their project during the Sprout Squad’s trip to the gardening store. It wasn’t as slick as Gem technology, but at least the steps were intuitive; perhaps it was some sort of sign that the soil seemed to already be in the perfect range to produce purple blossoms and didn’t need to be treated. The telltale flash of Amethyst shifting to her original form alerted her to the fact that the holes were done - and much more neatly than Peridot would have expected, almost as if she’d made the effort to adhere to the actual guidelines for Peridot’s benefit. With that completed the two Gems directed their attention to the potted hydrangeas, carefully removing them from where they lay nestled and transferring them to the holes. The teamwork was nice, somewhat nostalgic - it reminded Peridot of working together with Pearl during the cluster crisis, or with her former barnmate to create their meepmorps. She entertained the idea of seeing if either Steven or Amethyst would be interested in helping her make a new one - only briefly, given that just the thought felt like some sort of betrayal.

But maybe, at some point.

After patting down the soil around the last of the hydrangeas, Peridot stepped back, looking upon their handiwork with a touch of pride. “…there. Now we just water them thoroughly…”

“On it!” Before she could finish the statement Amethyst had shifted once more, now resembling a sprinkler replete with a hose connected to the spigot beneath the house. This time Peridot’s laugh was a great deal less forced and far closer to genuine as she dodged the spray of water, making a break for the stairs and moving her tablet out of harm’s way. Amethyst made short work of dousing the newly planted hydrangeas, shifting back with a deep, satisfied sigh. Now that it was safe to approach Peridot walked over to where she stood, beaming with admiration. “Your shapeshifting ability really does make this a much faster process than I’d grown accustomed to back at…”

There it was again; it occurred to her that she’d let her troubles slip her mind while they were working, but now it came back in full force, almost bowling her over.

A hand patted her shoulder in a comforting manner, and Peridot glanced up to find Amethyst wearing an expression not of exasperation, but understanding. “You know, it’s okay to miss her,” she said, gently - Peridot wasn’t used to this side of her and gaped for a moment before catching herself. “You don’t have to just forget about her.”

Peridot rarely found herself lacking words to express herself, whether they were tactful or not; it was a rare moment when she faltered altogether. There were so many things she  _wanted_ to say - the insistence that she could never have forgotten about Lapis, no matter how much time passed; that she was trying her best to be the Gem she’d been before Lapis Lazuli post-Lapis Lazuli but it was  _hard_ , much more so than anything she’d ever dealt with, even coming to terms with defying Yellow Diamond and accepting her life as a fugitive; that she missed the barn and their meepmorps and their TV shows and their crops and everything that Lapis had taken with her. That at least she’d left Pumpkin, although now she was a reminder, too.

What came out was a dull, flat voice that she barely recognized as her own. “She’s probably not coming back.”

“Well, neither is…” Amethyst’s gaze strayed to the stone figure situated behind the beach house, trailing off for a moment. “Someone very important to me that can never come back. But that doesn’t stop me from missing her.”

The corners of Peridot’s eyes burned uncomfortably. “All the time?”

Amethyst leaned forward, pulling the smaller Gem into a much appreciated hug. “Yeah.”

Peridot allowed herself to melt into the embrace, holding on as if she’d already anticipated Amethyst fading from her life as well.

After a moment they separated, Peridot attempting to wipe inconspicuously at her damp eyes with the back of her wrist and hastily changing the subject. “Well… if my calculations are correct (and they usually are), the pH level of this soil should be at an even 6.2, which should result in a mixture of pink and blue blossoms  _provided_ they actually grow.”

“If they grow, they grow, and if they don’t, we’ll just try something else. It doesn’t have to be perfect.” Amethyst replied with a wink. “We’re doing this because it’s fun, remember?”

For the first time that afternoon, Peridot’s smile was completely genuine. “Yeah.”

As they headed back up the beach house stairs, Amethyst paused, clearing her throat and looking away somewhat awkwardly. “So I’ve been thinking - since you’re gonna be here for awhile, you wanna be roomies? Steven probably wants his bathroom back.”

Peridot reflexively stiffened at the mere thought of a change in routine. When she spoke, her tone was much more skeptical and suspicious than intended. “…can I reconstruct the pillow fort? And does this offer include Pumpkin?”

“Yeah, dude, I love Pumpkin. She’s great.”

Some of the tension melted away; not all of it, and Peridot knew that whatever she chose it would be some time before any place felt like home again - Steven’s bathroom, or otherwise.

But there was nothing stopping her from trying again.

“I will consider this arrangement,” she replied, internally reveling in the surge of bravery she hadn’t felt for some time.

Amethyst’s face lit up. “I’ll give you a tour of the digs to help you make up your mind. I’ve got some pretty cool stuff in there.”

Peridot glanced out at the ocean, deep blue beneath a clear blue sky.

Then she followed Amethyst back inside, already envisioning fully grown hydrangeas heavy with bold purple blossoms.


End file.
